Summit County Veterans Service Commission: Indigent Burial Fund

Ohio requires each county veterans service commission to bury or cremate a veteran, or a veteran's parent, spouse or surviving spouse, who died without the means to pay, with the county paying up to $1,000 (Revised Code 5901.25 to 5901.27; see the Ohio entry). How Summit County runs it. The commission's indigent burial fund pays up to $1,000 toward the final expenses of an indigent veteran or a veteran's dependent, meaning one who left no funds or assets to cover them. Its own rules: the bill must still be unpaid, since the fund does not reimburse; the applicant must be the person responsible for paying it, whose own ability to pay is weighed; and the application is normally due within 30 days of the death. Bring the DD-214, the death certificate and the funeral or burial invoice, by appointment (330-643-2830). The statute names the veteran's parent, spouse and surviving spouse; the commission's word "dependent" is its own. A family burying a veteran's parent who was not a dependent should ask, citing 5901.25. Because the statute has the commission contract with the funeral director the family chooses, call the commission before the funeral contract is signed, not after.